


duet

by valety



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Bittersweet, Other, POV Second Person, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 10:57:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5825926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valety/pseuds/valety
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chara and Asriel play piano.</p>
            </blockquote>





	duet

**Author's Note:**

> I was feeling kind of sad and wanted to write something small to distract myself. so, yeah

He sits beside you on the bench, a little closer than he needs to be. His hip bumps against yours, but that's okay, he doesn't need to move or anything, not if he doesn't want to. It's fine. Everything is fine.

You play a C chord and are pleased to hear the earthy timber of a genuine piano, not the too-clean ring of something electronic. It may be a little out-of-tune, but the sound is _real,_ something that more than makes up for any minor flaws.

You begin to play some loose arpeggios up and down the keyboard. Asriel watches as you do so, whispering " _Cool,_ " with wide, wide eyes. It's not, it's really not, but your heart flutters slightly when he says that. You wish you could remember how to do something even fancier, something showy, something worthy of his admiration, just so you can make him look at you like that a little while longer. But it's been years, and though you can recall the basics - the motions, the theory - the actual _feeling_ of playing has been lost to you. Your hands remain unsure of what they're doing, awkward and unpracticed and tripping as they go, making tiny errors that anyone but you could overlook. 

You scowl and take your time finishing your warm-up, doing scales and chord progressions as you try to make your hands remember how they're meant to feel.

You think there might be something just a bit like awe in Asriel's eyes, and so you might be kind of showing off - as much as you can, anyway - but you're also buying time. You've never had to teach someone before and you're not sure how to start.

When you'd asked him about the most interesting things he'd ever found in Waterfall, you'd been expecting stuff like record players and out-of-date TVs. You hadn't been expecting a piano. You _definitely_ hadn't been expecting him to say that Toriel and Asgore had restored it. Who the hell would throw away a whole piano? More importantly, who the hell would bother saving such a thing?

(The Dreemurrs would, you guess. They seem to like taking in garbage.

Haha.)

You'd demanded to see it, of course, and so Asriel had led you down the hall and to a room you hadn't known existed, opening the door and revealing what appeared to be baby grand piano standing proudly in the middle of a storage room. The instrument was beautiful, scuffed yet shining, and without a second thought you'd gone to raise the lid and brush your hand along the keys in wonder. 

Only then did you think to stop and ask, "Will your parents mind if I use it?"

"Nope!" Asriel had eagerly replied, bouncing over to where you stood. "They'll probably be really happy! Dad said it makes him sad when instruments go unplayed - that's why they kept it, in case someone ever wanted it."

You still don't know if you believe him. You haven't really been here all that long, and it's hard for you to picture an adult - human or otherwise - who'd be okay with some dumb kid messing with an instrument of theirs. But Asriel is bound to know his parents better than you do, and if he said they'd be okay with it, you'd just have to trust him, especially if music was at stake. There wasn't much you missed about the surface, aside from certain books and looking at the stars, but you'd craved a quiet place to practice all your life; somewhere you'd be free to improvise and be as sloppy as you liked without somebody judging every note. This might finally be your chance.

But then he'd asked if you could show him how to use it. You hadn't wanted to say _yes_ \- after all, what the hell could you even teach him? You didn't have your books, and you doubted that your muscle memory was good enough to recall more than a measure or two of anything you'd learned back in your lessons. But then he'd looked at you with those enormous puppy-dog eyes of his, and, well. 

You think you've gone through every scale there is by now, and so you finally take your hands off of the keys, instead placing them in your lap.

"Okay," you say. "What do you already know about music?""

"Nothing."

Fuck. 

Or...good? If he knows nothing, then maybe you can fake it. You can tell him anything you like and nobody will contradict you. That means - shit, he's saying something. 

"...guitar," Asriel is saying, looking thoughtful. He's leaning slightly forward now, feet tucked beneath the bench. _Sit up straight,_ you hear your old piano teacher say, and you slouch forward as well. "Those are pretty cool, right? But I don't know where to get one."

"Pianos and guitars are pretty different," you say. "I mean, pianos have keys and guitars have strings. You can't just bang on a guitar and hope that works."

"I know!" Asriel retorts, looking indignant. "I just meant - "

"I can show you how to read music," you interrupt before he can get upset for real. You'd just been stating facts, but he has that look on his face that means you said something rude. "Maybe someday you'll find a guitar and we can figure out how to play it together."

" _Can_ we play together?" he asks, all signs of anger fading, expression turning hopeful. "In a duet, I mean?"

You shrug and look away. You hope that you're not blushing. "I guess so," you say, because there's nothing all that special about duets. If he wants to play one with you someday, fine. It's not that big a deal. "I don't think pianos and guitars are usually paired together, though." Not that you'd know. 

"Then we'll be the first!" he says, beaming and clapping his hands together. "That'll make it extra special!"

 _Like anything with me involved could ever be considered 'special',_ you want to say, but...you can't. He just looks so _happy._ You don't want to ruin that. Besides, you've never played together with a friend before - someone who wouldn't care about your sound, only spending time with you. And that's what he is, right? A friend? He called himself your friend. That meant that you could do the same. Right? 

If you had to choose a practice partner, then you'd probably choose Asriel. He was...safe. 

So you don't say anything sarcastic. Instead you answer, "Maybe," careful to keep your voice as cool as possible. Don't get too excited, he might change his mind. 

But then he smiles at you, brighter than the sun, and against your will, you smile back. A real smile, not the one you give to make people leave you alone. He was good at getting those out of you. 

He leans against you even further then, almost-but-not-quite resting his head against your shoulder, and you grow still, suddenly afraid that if you move he'll shy away. Would he do that? Would Asriel get scared? 

"That would be really fun," he says against your shoulder, sounding almost shy. "I'd like to make music with you someday."

Holy fuck.

"Good luck," you say, voice cracking just a tad. You tell yourself he doesn't hear it, even though he must. "It'll be hard to do with paws."

Asriel giggles, then reaches for your hand, covering it with his.

"Same size," he says, sounding pleased

You think you're going to explode.

"Look how stubby your fingers are," you say, but they're _not_ stubby, they're thick and soft and squishy, nothing like your long, spindly ones. Sure, your hands can span a stupid octave, but his are so much nicer to hold and poke and -

"Show me how to play with you," he commands, hand still covering yours. He gives the order easily, like the possibility of your refusal hasn't even crossed your mind. Side-effect of being a prince, you guess. Not that you'd refuse him.

What can you show him, though? You have no songs prepared, nothing you can teach him. But if he just wants to play with you, then -

"Let's write a song," you say, and Asriel's eyes light up.

"We can _do_ that?" he asks, and you know right then and there that this idea is the best you've ever had if it can make him look at you like _that,_ like you've just given him the starry sky in a jar and told him you can go and fetch the moon as well should he desire.

"Of course," you say. Something inside of you is swelling, something that makes you want to earn that look, to give him something just as good as he's expecting, something he can thank you for. Pride, maybe? 

You lift his hand and place it on the keyboard for him. It falls onto a low D. You can work with that. You press his finger down upon the key, using his hands to form a slow and steady rhythm. "Keep playing this," you tell him, and Asriel obeys, even when you take away your hand. 

As he steadily plunks away at his key, you spend a moment looking at your half of the piano. Then, more by instinct than by anything else, you pick out a simple tune to complement him with. At first it's just a few repeating notes, but gradually it builds to something sweeter, something...real, hopefully. With your free hand, you guide his playing, adjusting harmonies as needed. And Asriel doesn't rush you, doesn't get impatient - he lets you experiment, lets you play the odd sour note, let's you find your way, watching all the while like you can do no wrong. 

Bit by bit, you build a song together - not a true duet, but something _true_ regardless, a living memory of this quiet moment spent together in a storage room, seated at a baby grand. 

When you've done as much as you are able with what you've thrown together, you stop him, placing your free hand over his. The final note resonates, then all is silent. 

It's Asriel who breaks the silence.

"You just _made that up_?" he cries, eyes enormous.

"Maybe," you say, because to answer _yes_ might come across as arrogant. You can trust him, he's safe, you know that, but you're still not sure what might actually upset him. 

"Chara, you're _incredible!_ " he shouts, and before you know what's happening, he has his arms around you. You almost shove him off of you, but then he starts to babble nonsense about how you're _just amazing_ and _sooo cool_ , things that kind of make you want to hug him back, and so instead of seizing up, you awkwardly wrap your arms around him in return, hoping that you've got this 'hug' thing right.

"It wasn't _that_ good," you say. You don't know why you say that. (You know exactly why you say that.) 

"Well, _I_ liked it," Asriel declares. "And I'm the only one who heard it, so my opinion matters most!" 

Oh.

"I suppose that's fair," you grudgingly admit, and he laughs and squeezes even tighter, like hugging you is something that he really wants to do, not just something he puts up with, not just - you swallow. 

"We can do this again sometime, right?" Asriel asks when he finally pulls away. His eyes are full of expectations, and...you don't know what that means. You don't know what _any_ of this means. Does he want to play with you again? Does he want to try and write a song again? Does he want to hug you again? 

You think you'd be okay with any of those things, though.

If...he really wants to. 

You nod, and he grins like that was exactly the right answer.

Later, when Asriel's in bed but you can't sleep - too many nightmare, always the same story - you creep back to the storage room. This time, you have a pen and paper and a plan.

Even if you write another song together someday, you want to remember this one. This was the first. It will always be the most important. You need to keep it somehow, so that you don't forget, so that you can play again with him someday.

And who knows? Maybe someday you can make it...better. Make it something that's worth listening to. Something more complex, a proper duet. Hell, maybe someday Asriel will have his guitar and you can turn it into something new entirely. 

But for now, you play the song as best as you remember, carefully copying down each note as you do so, hoping that you'll get to see those Somedays.

You think you want to play with him again. 

 

* * *

 

Frisk's confusion hits you like a brick.

 _A haunting song echoes down the corridor,_ says the sign beside the upright piano. _Won't you play along?_

Then, like an afterthought:  _only the first 8 are fine._

 _I don't know what to do,_ they think, more bewildered than you've ever felt them be in the entire time you've known them. _What is this?_

Any other day, you'd find the whole thing funny, but not today. Today you hear the statue's music box playing from outside the cave, and _boy_ does that make you feel... _something!_ What is it that you're feeling, anyway? Anger? Despair? The urge to laugh hysterically? But it doesn't matter, Frisk is too distracted to even notice how you're doing, so that means it isn't real. It's fine. You're fine. 

You could tell them that the puzzle's not important - already you can tell that whatever treasure's hidden here is nothing that they really need - but that song. That _song._

It belongs to you. It belongs to _Asriel._ That statue plays for him, but you - he doesn't know what he's doing, he doesn't know anything about music, he _needs_ you, _you_ need - 

 _Let me do it,_ you think, and Frisk's relief washes over you. They nod and then withdraw, letting you step forward.

Their hands are smaller than you're used to, you think when you rest them against the keys. The piano isn't right, either. 

But somehow, even this unfamiliarity is familiar.

Though you're lost and lonely, though you don't have your favoured partner with you, you take a deep breath anyway. And then, with someone else's hands, but your own faded heart, you play yourself a memory.


End file.
